Machine for use in applying pressure to shoe bottoms



Aug. 1, 1939.

MACHINE FOR E. l. LA CHAPELLE 2,167,806 USE IN APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOEBOTTOMS Filed April 16, 1957 Fig.1.

WvEA/TUR 941 4; KW

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i-Aug, 1, 1939.

E. I. LA CHAPELLE 2,167,806

MACHINE FOR USE IN APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS -2 sheets-she t 2Filed April 16, 1957 1/ I I I Patented Aug. 1, 1939 -UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR USE IN APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMSApplication April 16, 1937, Serial No. 137,295

7 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for use in applying pressure to shoebottoms and is illustrated herein with reference to cement attachingsoles to shoes.

In cement attaching soles to shoes, particularly shoes having relativelyhigh insteps and deeply arched shank portions, it is desirable to applyto the shank portion of the shoe bottom pressure considerably in excessof what is applied to the forepart in order to conform the sole properlyto the arch in said shank portion and to cause the sole to become firmlyattached to the shoe bottom at that portion. When this operation isperformed with the aid of many of the pressure applying devices now inuse such, for example, as

a single yieldable pad or an inflated bag, the high pressure required toshape the shank portion of the shoe cannot be properly controlled andrestricted to the shank portion alone with the result that excessivepressure is applied to the forepart of the shoe.

This excessive pressure at the forepart of the shoe bottom is alwaysdetrimental to the shoe and may result not only in injuring theappearance of the shoe bottom at the forepart but also in subjecting theupper materials at the edge of the insole, especially in the vicinity ofthe ball line, to such a strain or compression that the upper is liableto crack or break during the wear of the shoe.

Objects of the present invention are to provide an improved machine forcement attaching soles to shoes by the use of which the diflicultiesreferred to above are eliminated.

With these objects in view the invention provides, in accordance withone of its features, a member for applying pressure to the rear portionof a shoe bottom, a separate member for applying pressure to theforepart of the shoe bottom, and means for predetermining or limitingthe pressure that is to be applied to the forepart of the shoe bottom bysaid separate forepart member. As illustrated, the rear pressureapplying member is arranged to apply pressure to the shank and heelportions of the shoe approximately from the ball line rearwardly and isshaped to conform to the longitudinal contour of the shank and heelportions of the shoe bottom. The forepart pressure-applying member mayhave a substantially fiat sole-engaging surface.

In accordance with further features of the invention the shank and heelpressure applying member may be provided with individual means forcontrolling the pressure exerted thereby on the shoe bottom, a supportmay be provided for the shoe which will allow the shoe to pivot about ahorizontal axis located substantially over the ball line of the shoe,thereby permitting the shoe to adjust itself automatically to the shankand heel pressure applying member, and the forepart pressure applyingmember may be arranged for pivotal movement relatively to the shoebottom so that it can automatically adjust itself to the plane of saidshoe bottom during the pressure applying operation.

With the above and other objects and features in view the invention willnow be described in connection with the accompanying drawings andthereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away and in section, of themachine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line IV--IV of Fig. 1 showing thepressure applying members in plan view;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation similar to Fig. 1 showing the rear pressureapplying member in operative position; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing both pressure applying members inoperative position.

The machine comprises a rectangular frame it supporting, at its upperend, a plate l2 to which is secured, about midway of its length, aU-shaped bracket M which extends transversely across the plate l2 andhas a bifurcated projection It extending downwardly from the center ofits cross portion. Pivoted on a pin R8 in the bifurcated end of theprojection I6 is a shoe support or jack 2!] comprising a substantiallyL- shaped arm 22 one leg 23 of which extends down wardly toward theplate l2 and is provided with a curved shoe engaging member 24 having aconcave lower surf-ace in position to engage the fore part of a shoe andsupport it against pressure applied to the bottom of said forepart.

The other leg of the L-shaped arm 22 of the jack extends upwardly and tothe right, as view-ed in Fig. l, and is provided on its upper edge facewith a series of notches 26. Slidably mounted on this leg of the arm 22is a member 28 provided with a downwardly extending lug 30 to which ispivoted by a pin 32 a last engaging member 34 arranged to support theheel portion of a last on which the shoe is mounted, the shoe being heldon the jack, for example, by hand or in some 55 other convenient manner.The last and shoe engaging members or abutments 24, 34 are illustratedherein as conventional last and shoe supporting members and the exactconstruction of these abutments could, of course, be varied within theinvention.

The slide member 28 is provided on its upper side with a leaf spring 36having a projection 38 (Fig. 1) thereon for engaging one of the notches26 and thus holding the last engaging abutment 34 in such a positionthat the forepart of the shoe will be engaged at the proper location bythe forward abutment 24. The abutment 34 may be adjusted relatively tothe arm 22 by lifting the leaf spring 36 and sliding the member 28 alongthe arm until the projection 33 engages a notch in the proper positionfor the size of shoe being operated upon.

As shown in the drawings, the machine is adapted to operate upon a shoehaving its outsole temporarily secured thereto or spotted by a suitabletacky adhesive such, for example, as rubber cement applied to centralportions of the sole and shoe bottom so as not to interfere with theapplication of the sole attaching cement to the marginal portionsthereof. Before the shoe is mounted on the jack 2B, the sole and shoebottom will have been treated on its marginal portions in the usualmanner with sole attaching cement such, for example, as pyroxylincement, in which case the cement will have been activated by a solventto render it adhesive, and the sole will have been properly positionedon, and temporarily stuck to, the shoe bottom by the tacky rubbercement.

The supporting plate I2 is provided on'its lower side with a pair ofbosses to, 42 which are bored vertically and threaded to receive,respectively, vertical screws M, 46. The screw fi l is arranged tounderlie the heel portion of a shoe mounted on the jack 2% and at itsupper end the screw is rotatably connected to a member 68 having anenlarged portion to which is bolted a plate 59 arranged to underlie theshank and heel portions of the shoe and shaped to conform generally tothe longitudinal contour of those portions of a shoe bottom. The platehas secured thereto in any usual or convenient manner a pressureapplying member 52, preferably a yieldable pad of more or less resilientmaterial such, for example, as rubber, the pad being of sufficientthickness to permit the sole and shoe to sink into it somewhat duringthe pressure applying operation, thereby conforming the pad to thecurvatures of the shank and heel portions of the shoe bottom. At itsforward or left-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 1, the plate 50 is providedwith a downwardly extending pin as which has a sliding fit in a hole 56in the supporting plate 12 and prevents the plate and pad 52 fromturning when the screw 44 is adjusted heightwise in the supportingplate.

' Below the supporting plate I2 the screw 44 has fastened thereto by aset screw 58 a stop coilar 60 and its lower end has pinned thereto ahand wheel 62 whereby the screw may be rotated to move the pad 52towardand away from the shank and heel portions of a shoe'on the jack.The upward movement of the screw M may, of course, be limited by theposition of the stop collar 60 on the screw and, accordingly, thepressure which may be applied to the shank and heel portions of the soleand shoe may thus be limited to a predetermined amount.

It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 4 that the forward or left-hand ends ofthe pad 52 and plate 50 terminate at substantially the ball line of ashoe mounted on the jack 20 and that these lefthand ends extend acrossthe shoe bottom at an angle which corresponds substantially to the angleof the ball line of the shoe when seen in plan view.

The screw 46 at the left-hand side of the plate l2 (Fig, 1) is providedat its lower end with a hand wheel 64 and at its upper end is rotatablyconnected to a member 66 bolted to the lower side of a plate 68, theleft-hand end of the plate 68, as viewed in Fig. 1, having securedthereto a downwardly propecting pin 1G which has a sliding fit in thesupporting plate [2 and thus acts to prevent the plate 68 from turningas the screw 46 is threaded upwardly and downwardly in the boss 42. Theplate 58 is provided at its opposite sides with upstanding ears 1'2between which is pivotally mounted by pins I4 a pressure applying memberor plate 15 provided with a resilient pressure applying pad 18 ofsubstantial thickness. This arrangement permits the pressure applyingmember l6 and pad E3 to adjust themselves automatically to the angle ofthe forepart of the shoe bottom when the pad is moved into engagementwith said forepart by the screw 55. Below the supporting plate l2 thescrew carries a stop collar secured thereto by a set screw 82. The

position of the collar 80 on the screw 46 limits upward movement of thescrew and thus limits or determines the pressure that can be applied tothe forepart of the shoe by the pad i8. Preferably the collar 5% on thescrew 44 is adjusted so that the rear pad 52 will be caused to applyrelatively heavy pressure to the entire shank and heel portions of theshoe bottom whereas the collar 80 on the screw at is positioned so thatthe pressure of the pad 18 on the forepart of the shoe bottom will berelatively light, the exact pressures, of course, depending on the typeof shoe being operated upon,

In applying pressure to shoe bottoms by the aid of the machine disclosedherein a shoe a is mounted on the jack 20 and held by the operator orotherwise with the outsole c of the shoe temporarily secured to the shoebottom by tacky rubber cement. The shoe is thus located in position overthe forepart pressure applying member 18 and the shank and heel pressureapplying member 52, and is freely movable about the pivot I8 which, asillustrated, is preferably located over, or slightly forwardly of, theball line of the shoe. The operator rotates the screws 44 and 46 bytheir hand wheels to move the pressure applying members 52, 18 intoengagement, respectively, with the shank and heel portions of the shoebottom and with the forepart of the shoe bottom.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the shank and heel pressure applyingmember or pad 52 is moved into engagement with the correspondingportions of the shoe bottom before the forepart member 18 is movedagainst the forepart of the shoe, thereby causing the shoe to swing in acounterclockwise direction (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5) about the pivotI 8 until the shank and heel portions of the shoe bottom are located inparallel relation to and are engaging the entire work engaging surfaceof the pad at which time the upper edge face'of the arm 22 of the jackengages the projection l6 above its bifurcated portion and, bypreventing further movement of the jack and shoe in a counterclockwisedirection under the action of the pressure applying member 52, causespressure to be applied to the shank and heel portions of the shoe.Movement of the shoe in said counterclockwise direction to bring the arm22 into engagement with the projection l6 also positions the forepart ofthe shoe bottom in a substantially horizontal plane so that pressureapplied to the forepart of the shoe bottom by vertical movement of thescrew 46 will be directed substantially at right angles to the plane ofthe forepart of the shoe bottom.

The pressure applying member 18 at the forepart of the shoe is movedupwardly by the screw 46 until it engages the shoe bottom and appliespressure thereto, this pressure, as stated above, being limited asdesired by engagement of the stop collar 86 with the boss on thesupporting plate l2. If the forepart of the shoe bottom is at a slightangle to the surface of the pressure applying pad T8, the latter canadjust itself automatically to the forepart of the shoe by reason of thepivotal arrangement of the plate 16 between the ears 12. As shown inFig. 4, the forward plate '16 and pad 18 register at their right-handends with the angle of the adjoining ends of the shank and heel plate 50and pad 52 so that the pressure of the pad 18 is applied to the entireforepart of the shoe bottom from the toe end rearwardly to the ballline.

After the desired pressure has been applied for a sufficient period tothe entire shoe bottom, the pressure applying members 52, 18 may bemoved downwardly away from the shoe through rotation of their actuatingscrews and the shoe with its sole permanently attached thereto removedfrom the jack. Since with the aid of the present machine the pressurethat is applied to the shank and heel portions of a sole and shoe, thatis, from the ball line rearwardly to the heel end, is considerablygreater than the pressure that is to the forepart of the shoe or fromthe ball line forwardly to the toe end, it will be seen that the shankportion of the sole may be properly cemented to the correspondingportion of the shoe bottom without the application of excessive pressureto the forepart of the shoe bottom. Thus, all danger of injury to theforepart of the shoe bottom or to the shoe upper, particularly in thevicinity of the ball line of the shoe, is eliminated.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, means for supporting a shoe, a single member for applyingpressure to the rear portion of the shoe bottom from its ball line toits heel end, another single member for applying pressure to theforepart of the shoe bottom from said ball line to its toe end, andmeans for controlling the pressure that can be applied to the forepartof the shoe bottom by said member.

2. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, means for supporting a shoe, a single member movablerelatively tothe shoe for applying pressure to the rear portion of theshoe bottom from its ball line to its heel end, another single membermovable relatively to the shoe for applying pressure to the remainder ofthe shoe bottom, and means for varying the pressure to be applied to theshoe bottom by each of said movable pressing members.

3. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, means for supporting a shoe, a single member for applyingpressure to the entire rear portion of the shoe bottom, a separatemember for applying pressure to the forepart of the shoe bottom, meansfor moving said pressure applying members toward the shoe to applypressure thereto, and means carried by said moving means for positivelycontrolling the pressure to be exerted respectively by said members onsaid portions of the shoe bottom.

4. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, means for holding a shoe, a member for applying pressure tothe shank and heel portions of the shoe bottom, a separate member forapplying pressure to the entire forepart of the shoe bottom, andadjustable means for controlling the amount of pressure to be applied byeach of said pressure applying members to the shoe bottom.

5. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, a jack for supporting a shoe, a single member for applyingpressure to the shank and heel portions only of the shoe bottom, aseparate member for applying pressure to the entire forepart of the shoebottom, separate means for actuating each of said pressure applyingmembers, and means individual to each actuating means for determiningand positively limiting the pressure to be applied by each pressureapplying member to the shoe bottom, said limiting means being capable ofadjustment to vary its limiting action.

6. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, means for holding a shoe, a member for applying pressure tothe entire shank and heel portions of the shoe bottom, a separate memberfor applying pressure to the entire forepart of the shoe bottom, andmeans for operating each of said pressure applying members independentlyofthe other.

7. A machine for applying pressure to shoe bottoms having, incombination, a jack for supporting a shoe, a member for applyingpressure to the entire rear portion of the shoe bottom, including itsheel portion and a separate member for applying pressure to the entireforepart of the shoe bottom, said separate member being constructed andarranged to adjust itself automatically to the plane of said forepartand said firstmentioned member being located in a predetermined positionrelatively to the plane of said rear portion.

EUCLID I. LA CHAPELLE.

